Per & Marie deliver a knock out performance at Cirkus

Written by tevensso on May 11, 2009 to Live and Per Gessle.

STOCKHOLM (Updated) - It's Stockholm Day 2: the same show, the same songs, the same band, the same fans (well, almost) - but twice the energy. What can I say… this band is among the tightest I've heard since I don't know, Gyllene Tider 1996? [Well, Bon Jovi 2003 was pretty damn amazing too, in front of 68,000 people.] Was everything "just the same?" Not at all. There was no video crew, despite previous information, and most of all… Marie Fredriksson on guest vocals! Marie, as in Amsterdam, sang "It Must Have Been Love" and "The Look" together with Per and the band. The noise when Per introduced Marie must have made an impact on the Richter scale… or, as a reporter for one of the Swedish newspapers put it, it almost blew the roof off the theater. Fans cried openly. Erik Johansson, who we mentioned in yesterday's article, said he hasn't cried this much ever. Marie herself looked quite taken with the situation, and just as in Amsterdam… couldn't help but say "Wow!"

The concert was basically the same as on Saturday, only — so it seemed to this reviewer — much more intense.

When The Daily Roxette talked to Per after the show, he said the band cried backstage, and now they feel all empty inside. But things are in the works "soon," Per said without being specific at all.

Even though most of the antics of the band are rehearsed, it's still kind of fun and cute… especially when Christoffer starts playing "Ljudet av ett annat hjärta" frantically on his golden Gibson/Epiphone, or starts the intro to "Owner of a Lonely Heart" in "Do You Wanna…"

TDR can also namedrop some of the event's guests; Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Victoria with fiancé Daniel Westling (with stern Secret Service agents hovering,) Swedish singer Lena Philipsson ("Kärleken är evig" etc.) and famous movie and music video director Jonas Åkerlund… just to name a few.

65 comments

Sascha said on May 11, 2009 10:12:

Suckerpunch? What does that express? ;-p

Jud (moderator) said on May 11, 2009 11:19:

it was simply amazing when Marie stepped on stage. People went simply nuts. And Marie ROCKED. It was the best Roxette performance I’ve seen, even topped the Showcase in Barcelona ’01. Micke told me it was even better than in Amsterdam, I cannot compare myself, but for what I saw and heard I am sure he is right :)

And she seemed to have so much fun. Cannot wait till NOTP.

There is a great picture of P&M and nice article on Expressen, not sure if online, at least on paper.

Perfect, don’t regret making the trip at all. Thanks to all who convinced me. It was also great to see you all, Txiqui, Alex, Ktoto, Rosa, Laura, Tev, Kirsten and everyone else :)
___________________________
Marie Fredriksson Online
Be strong, speak true

Sascha said on May 11, 2009 11:28:

Look forward to watch videos with sound tonight!

It’s logical that Marie gets more secure from performance to performance. Nice! And maybe the thought of Roxette performing at Victoria’s wedding (German Forum...) wasn’t that far off after all! ;-)

Kiwein1 said on May 11, 2009 12:30:

Best Roxette performance I have ever seen. Nobody needs a superb “show”. It’s all about the music, feeling it, playing with it and getting the crowd to join. They made it all with The Look. Simply fabulous, even better than in Amsterdam, ppl were screaming louder there, though. ;-)

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www.marie-fredriksson.com
www.planet-roxette.com

daniel_alv said on May 11, 2009 12:55:

Maybe Roxette should make a new song to Victorias wedding and perform it at the wedding. ABBA performed Dancing Queen at her fathers wedding. It would be cool. first ABBA and then Roxette.

tina142 said on May 11, 2009 13:02:

Am I the only person that isn’t all that bothered about Marie? For me, Roxette is Per Gessle and always will be. Yeah, Marie’s fine but Per is Roxette. I adore Roxette and will be travelling from the UK to see them when on tour but I’d much rather see Helena than Marie. Went to the London show and it was amazin. I’m glad Marie wasn’t there, I paid to see Per after all. Don’t all you Marie fans pull me to pieces because I understand she has her fans and I do like her to a certain extent, but to me Per is the genius and that’s the way it is for me. Just my opinion.

Kiwein1 said on May 11, 2009 13:11:

And nobody will hate you for it. ;-) It’s just amazing that a woman who had 5% chance to survive a brain tumour is finally back and even better than she was before. And no, Per isn’t Roxette. Per AND Marie is Roxette. ;-) It’s really amazing how they’re still rocking together. It feels “complete” to see BOTH of them on stage. And I really don’t have a personal thing going on with Helena, but she doesn’t sing half as good as Marie does..

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www.marie-fredriksson.com
www.planet-roxette.com

abysmo said on May 11, 2009 13:33:

About what or who is Roxette. The truth is, that Per is excellent songwriter and Marie is excellent singer. Per´s rate 25% and Marie’s 25% makes Roxette’ s 100%. They extremelly fit together, as a persons, as a musicians, as a pop stars. It’ s simply fantastic to see them both together at one stage again. You can feel the specific energy when Marie comes at the stage and joins Per. Everything is brighter and more coloured.
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RoxRoom.wz.cz

tina142 said on May 11, 2009 13:35:

Suppose it would be boring if we all had the same opinions, wouldn’t it? Marie has done great recovering from her brain tumour and I am really looking forward to seeing Roxette again in the future. I just love Per, that’s all, I know I’m biased, lol.

n_e_1 said on May 11, 2009 13:48:

@tina142 You are not the only one. But I love Marie anyway.

tina142 said on May 11, 2009 13:52:

I’m still so happy they’re back together and I like Marie, I do. Hope they do a proper tour next year, NOTP they’re only doing five songs, not that many. Still, it should be great. I’m really not being mean about her, I just want to put across that Per’s amazing, lol. Can’t wait for the DVD!

konstpaus said on May 11, 2009 14:41:

i totally agree with tina too, per is roxette for me, i would much rather a new GT long player than a roxette one, i suppose we all dont know if there will be a new roxette LP have to wait until NOTP is over, only time will tell, if the is its all good GT can wait after all it was a long time between Puls and F5F!

Breathe8 said on May 11, 2009 15:12:

GREAT to see Marie on stage again!! I can´t wait NOTP shows!!!

Jud (moderator) said on May 11, 2009 16:08:

funny. I feel the same as Kirsten. For me the best was when they performed together yesterday. Per did a good job (must confess, better than I had expected) singing Roxette songs alone, but I always missed Marie here and there. For example Dressed for success making people clap (we did it on our own, Per didn’t help here!!) or the guitar stuff at Dangerous, or or or... I guess it would feel the same if Marie would perform Roxette songs on her own. So Roxette is BOTH to me. And that feeling of completeness was 10000% there yesterday. Simply great.
___________________________
Marie Fredriksson Online
Be strong, speak true

pwbbounce (moderator) said on May 11, 2009 16:20:

Does anyone know any links to yesterdays Marie appearance on YouTube??

ncurran said on May 11, 2009 16:49:

Per is a great songwriter, no doubt about that, but without marie’s voice he could never have had success on the worldwide scale that he enjoyed in the 90s. Though he has developed as a performer...he’s not a natural showman.Indeed, when I went to the PC gigs I probably spent more time watching Christoffer and Helena on stage, who are more charismatic and also give a lot more eye contact to those of us down at the front! Marie on the other hand, also couldnt have had worldwide success without per’s songs. I also think for fans of Roxette as a group, it is part of the interaction between them that makes them even more special. I noticed at the first gig I went to in London, that although I really like Helena (a lot more than I used to), when she actually moves across and sings to him, he barely flinches. If however you watch the youtube videos of amsterdam, there is still so much chemistry between marie and per. I also like the fact that per seems so protective and caring towards her these days.
I think most roxette fans are more of a fan of either marie or per, and i think its no secret that I am a big marie fan. Per’s solo work has never really excited me (though I do think PC and TWATG are both good albums)......I completely disagree with Tina though when she says that for her Per is Roxette. Neither of them individually can claim to be Roxette, as the magic that is Roxette is only apparent when they are together! They have both had successful careers outside the band, but I consider that to be completely separate from Roxette as an entity.

carpalex5 said on May 11, 2009 17:16:

These two were the best I could find:
The Look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDFQdGAV7Mg
IMHBL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCbVOPgkDWI
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www.roxette.ro

kriszta said on May 11, 2009 17:43:

I totally agree with Kiwein1 !
Per and Marie are ROXETTE!
Per is very fantastic and Marie too,but they together the BEST !!! ROX ON!!!

GT_85 said on May 11, 2009 18:37:

Great gigs in Stockholm, even though I think the Halmstad gig was a bit better.

ettexor said on May 11, 2009 18:42:

Roxette is Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson!!!

Per Gessle = solo artist
Marie Fredriksson = solo artist

tina142 said on May 11, 2009 19:19:

Just wana clarify that I love Roxette and I’m not attacking Marie at all. There’d be no Roxette without either of them but I do think I prefer Per’s solo work or GT, I guess it depends on my mood as to who I listen to. I think Per’s got a more individual voice and I loved his versions of the Roxette songs when I saw him in London that Marie would normally sing esp Listen to Your Heart. It’s great Roxette are back!

PerAndren said on May 11, 2009 19:39:

I thought Chris was playing Ljudet av ett annat hjärta? Or am I wrong?

Kiwein1 said on May 11, 2009 20:12:

It definitely wasn’t När vi två blir en.
——————————–
www.marie-fredriksson.com
www.planet-roxette.com

tevensso (moderator) said on May 11, 2009 20:16:

You’re right of course, I’ve been awake too long! :D

first girl on t... said on May 11, 2009 20:19:

Thank you for the links!!!That was a stunning performance by Marie, her voice sounds fantastic, so much energy!!!Per was great too, don’t know the reason but his voice is so much better than years ago. Great, emotional performance!!!Thank you Marie and Per!!!

Kiwein1 said on May 11, 2009 20:20:

Well, enough moaning. Nice article! Thank you, Thomas.
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www.marie-fredriksson.com
www.planet-roxette.com

Txiqui said on May 11, 2009 20:20:

Is the first time that I cry listening to The Look in my life, i don’t know how to explain all the feelings I had while Per & Marie where singing again together last night in stockholm. It was more than great!!!
From my place i could see peoples faces and i can say that most of the front row (including me) where crying while Marie sang it must have been love.
The Look was crazy, the band rocked and Marie sang better than ever! It was great to see them having fun together on stage again.

I’ve uploaded some pics from yesterday: http://picasaweb.google.es/roxspain

PerAndren said on May 11, 2009 20:28:

Some pics at Rockfoto: http://www.rockfoto.nu/artists/Per%20Gessle

Roxette Holland said on May 11, 2009 20:43:

On the website op Algemeen Dagblad (www.ad.nl), a big Dutch newspaper is a huge interview with both Marie and Per. The last piece is the most important one. I translate it the best I can:

Fredriksson says she looks to the future day by day, but says she won’t be able to do a full Roxette tour. ,,So that is not going to happen in the near future,” Per says. ,,Although we have offers enough to do so. All came after we announced our comeback. Our manager can plan gigs until we are both 80 years old. Even stadiums want us. To be honest, Marie and I are the only ones who say no to that. A new cd? In autumn we are going to go into the studio together. It is great to be together again, be creative. And if the songs are good, we bring out a cd. If not, we never talk about them anymore.”

Sanglof said on May 11, 2009 20:55:

great to see and hear Marie, though, in my opinion, her voice is not as strong as it used to be. Not as powerful, and not as clean, but still great feeling.

Per & Marie deliver a knock out performance at Cirkus

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